Need to put this out there to you all because I’m ragging my head over it.

I’ve had my boat up for sale on a fishing forum for a bit now and I had a message last week from a bloke who’s interested.

I’ve spoken to him a few times on the phone and i’m meeting him half way between North Wales where I am and Cumbria.

This is my problem. If he likes the boat he wants to pay by cheque and take it away tomorrow. £5500.

The only time I can meet him is at weekends and he works shifts, tomorrow he will be coming straight off shift to drive down to Warrington to meet me.

Some points that make me think he’s ok to do this with,

1. I’ve been in email and phone contact with him
2. He is really enthusiastic & done his research on the boat.
3. I was not too happy with being paid by cheque so he offered to take me to a cash point to show me his bank balance.

Can a £5500 cheque be guaranteed or is there any way this can work without the worry?

If it was me I would not be handing anything over until the cheque has cleared in my account. Regardless of what he showed me

If people want things I”m selling they turn up at my place with a handful of notes. Once we’ve agreed to a price I take the cash or accompany the buyer to a bank where I pay it into my account in return for a bill with “paid in full thank you” written on it

For that amount, no. If he wants the boat he can give you the cheque and you hand the boat over when it clears. Trust no one…

Don’t.
It will probably be sound but it just may not. All sorts of hassle if it bounces and you are not even close enough to knock on his door. If he has that much cash let him go to the bank and do the transaction next weekend.
For a tenner I would, maybe even 50 quid but that much? Nope!

I wouldn’t, ask for cash if he is old school.

Might be OK but it is £5.5 Grand you are trusting on a stranger and I would not risk it

FFS I would not trust half my friends 😉

tell him to bring a Bankers draft for the money and no way would I do this till it had cleared

he can do a bank transfer by internet banking on his smart phone or Paypal Gift you it

If it was me I would not be handing anything over until the cheque has cleared in my account. Regardless of what he showed me

There is no such thing as a cleared cheque and at no point can you be sure the money is yours. Do not under any circumstances accept a personal cheque the money could be recalled from your account at any time in the future if there is anything dodgy going on.

All the above has been going through my head.

Some options that I have thought is Paypal at the scene but I don’t have a smartphone and don’t know if he does.

If he was to phone his bank tomorrow and transfer it how long would it take to show in my account?

No bank transfer could take place until Monday, at which point he could initiate a same-day payment (potentially with a charge).

Most banks have ‘Faster Payment’ enabled which gives pretty much instant transfers (2 hrs max). If he goes into his branch I’m not sure if this works or whether it is just for internet banking.

he could do a CHAPS transfer in bank though for around £35 which is a nominal fee given the sum of money involved.

Cheers

Danny B

Just on the offchance it’s relevant, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank still won’t do faster payments of this size, they’ve capped it out at £5000

(I assume this is because they want people to pay for CHAPS- that’s certainly why my lot used to have a low cap)

People who are serious about buying things offer to pay in cash or accept when you ask them to, and draw the money out before the weekend. I predict a long drive for no deal.

If they are worried about handing over so much cash do it in a bank. If you get bad vibes insist on them paying in a bank. If I were buying your boat I’d be happy to take half a day off work, meet you at 8:00 in the morning at your place to view then go to the bank at opening time to complete the transaction.